


Kiss it Better, Captain

by utsu



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: M/M, and having daichi come in to comfort him, pretty much just an excuse to show a melancholy suga who's human enough to have a breakdown
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-08
Updated: 2014-05-08
Packaged: 2018-01-24 00:11:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,002
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1584545
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/utsu/pseuds/utsu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Koushi realizes that it's okay to be human.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Kiss it Better, Captain

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Gren](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gren/gifts).



Koushi was happy.

He made good grades, had amazing friends and family, and he got to play volleyball every day. He was in good health and he enjoyed his time spent with the team the most, getting to work hard together and learn from each other. He loved the feeling of the ball in his hands, for a fleeting, flickering moment, before he sent it into the air. He loved hearing his friends shout for the ball and praise him for his tosses. He loved looking to his side and seeing Daichi crouched and smiling, waiting for a potential receive.

When he walked out of his house and curled the collar of his jacket up higher to protect his delicate neck from the cold morning breeze, he looked up into the sky and smiled.

✧

Kageyama was amazing.

Everyone knew that Koushi was naturally observant and easily aware of the nature of others—being able to see and learn things about people that no one else could. He watched Kageyama, a lot. His eyes might’ve seemed like they were on Hinata, such a good distraction, the strongest decoy, but he was so focused on Kageyama he could see how many creases there were between his brows as he lifted the ball into the air. His technique, as always, was perfect. The ball’s arc was without fault and it settled into the space in front of Hinata’s hand with a delicate ease that made Koushi’s heart clench.

He made it look so easy. Koushi turned, beaming and congratulating the duo as his side of the court rotated. Kageyama’s face scrunched up in that happy way of his and Hinata’s eyes looked fiery, both respectfully silent and proud in their acceptance of his praise.

But he didn’t pay attention to them for long, not when he was finally on the court with Asahi and Daichi and Yuu. These were his closest friends, the people who knew him best and had been with him for so long, and they were behind him, waiting for him to jump and toss.

Yuu was swaying back and forth in his crouch, obviously hungry for the ball to return to him. Asahi was tall and sturdy and prepared, suddenly intense in his concentration now that their ideal formation was in place. Daichi was, as always, a steady foundation behind him, positioned low to the ground with thighs flexed in anticipation. Across the court, it was Kageyama’s serve. He touched the ball to his forehead once, for the briefest of moments, and then he was in motion and the ball was coming straight towards Daichi.

As it always was, the serve was perfect. It was straight and quick and dangerous but Daichi got underneath it and lifted it perfectly into the air, right above Koushi’s head, a perfect receive to match.

Koushi loved this team more than anything in the world. He loved their hard work and their determination and how no matter the circumstances, everyone truly believed that they would win. It was in practice that he could stand on the court. It was in practice that he was worth something. That he could feel the support and the power of his teammates behind him; burning a hole into his back. He couldn’t let them down. He wouldn’t let them down. If they were going to win, they needed the best players on the court.

And he was no longer the best. Kageyama loomed in front of him, returning to his position as the ball descended above Koushi, his navy eyes focused and watchful. Koushi would not submit to the power and progress in those eyes. He would not stop trying to overcome the younger setter, not when he could feel the court under his feet and his teammates at his back. He would try harder than anyone on the court, push himself further, work day in and day out. He would not let a single thing stop him. Not this young and talented setter. Not his tired and aching body.

Not even his own insecurity.

In practice, he could stand on the court with his friends and play the sport they love so much, together. They could share the thrill of each toss, each receive, each serve and point and spike. In practice, there were people who counted on his toss, and he would never let them down. He would accept their support and transform it into energy through which he would earn back his spot as a starter. This was his last year, his last chance to stand on the court with Yuu, and Asahi.

And Daichi.

He sucked in a deep breath and leapt.

✧

When practice ended, Koushi was always the last one to leave the gym. They all helped clean up, put gear away; made sure the place was in top shape. But Koushi took pride in organizing the club room, making sure that everything was exactly in its place so that he’d come back the next day and everything would be the same as he’d left it. He’d been inside that gym so many times he could close his eyes and picture everything—from the scuffs on the outside lines of the court to the dented cabinets in the clubhouse.

He was the first to show and the last to leave, and he felt comfortable in the routine of things. After practice, when everyone wanted nothing more than to take their tired, overheated bodies out into the cool night breeze, Koushi waved them off and promised Daichi he’d lock up after himself. Promised Asahi and Yuu that he had it all under control, that he still had energy left and putting away a few extra brooms was easy enough for him to handle on his own. It was routine, and it comforted him knowing that he had a job to do.

It comforted him knowing that he was needed with this, too.

He wasn’t usually this melancholy. In fact he was usually so positive it was hard to ever doubt him. He knew that people around him were sort of wondering if he would ever crack, if he would ever break down. He knew that they were worried, but he was trying to show them that he was doing his best, working hard with no intention of quitting or simply letting his setter position be taken from him. He was doing his best and he didn’t want them to worry.

But sometimes people’s best efforts still fall short and they come to the inescapable truth that some people, ordinary people, just can’t beat an unstoppable force. Sometimes, even when they put in more effort than anyone else, when they try harder and push themselves further, they still just can’t compare to pure talent. Especially when it was coupled with love; love of the sport, of the thrill of being on the court, of having people receive your tosses.

Kageyama had so much drive sometimes it was hard for Koushi to take his eyes off the kid. Sometimes he’d stare for minutes on end, watching the way the boy’s eyes shifted and his body moved all in one synchronized dance to emphasize every player’s strengths, as if it was just that easy. Kageyama loved volleyball just as much, if not more than the rest of them. It was all he cared about—well. Before he had met Hinata, volleyball had been the sole object of his attention and his desire, but things did change, subtly, slowly, and soon enough there was another love thrown into his arsenal. If anything, Hinata’s presence only seemed to amplify Kageyama’s love for the sport.

The way that they worked together, a two-man powerhouse machine, working hard and depending on each other, it connected them. It strengthened them. Kageyama leaping into the air and touching fingertips to the laces of the ball, sending it over to Hinata like a gift like a love note like a confession and a promise, anticipating the touch of Hinata’s passionate fingertips to make contact, to accept and reciprocate. Any team sport could become a love song; you just had to know how to tune the instruments and listen for the beat.

Koushi thought of kind eyes and strong shoulders.

✧

When he was certain that all of his teammates had left the gym, he took out the broken mop and toyed with the sharp edges of it. He only looked at it for a moment, feeling the weight of it in his hands tying him to the earth, reminding him that he was solid and alive and real. Moonlight poured in through the window and cast a third of the room in white light, while the rest loomed in the darkness. He hadn’t turned the lights on.

He moved to the corner, careful not to trip over anything even though he knew where everything was, had been the person to place everything aside. He settled the two halves of the broken mop back into place in a well-lit corner of the room. He took two steps back, still staring. Two more. He kept stepping backwards until his back hit the opposite wall, cast in shadow, making him disappear. His back slowly slid down the wall until his bottom touched the floor, his knees bending as his arms moved to surround his legs, pulling them up into his chest. He was still staring at that broken mop, that worthless busted tool, stashed to the side, in the corner, hopeless.

When Koushi realized he was crying, his chest was already heaving and his cheeks were on fire. He dipped his face down into the crevice between his knees, struggling to breathe. He couldn’t keep looking at that mop, had to look away before any more thoughts of how similar he and that piece of garbage were. He couldn’t keep being reminded that he was broken and useless and replaced, too.

His hands fisted in the material of his pants, his knuckles whiter than the moonlight spilling across the room. He couldn’t hear a thing over the pounding of his own heartbeat, his ears red with heat and his face wet with shame. He didn’t know whether this was okay because he was alone and no one would know, or if he should just be completely ashamed for being so immature that he’d actually cry because he wasn’t good enough. Because someone was better. His mind was muddled and there were no clear paths for his thoughts to follow and come to completion, so he just stopped thinking altogether.

Until a hand very gently rested on his shoulder and a voice as warm as summer dreams said, “Koushi, what’s wrong? Are you hurt?”

He lifted his head and locked eyes with Daichi. His thoughts whirred around like a typhoon behind his skull before everything inside just fell silent, all at once, staring into the concerned expression tearing Daichi apart right in front of him. The captain let both of his knees touch the ground on either side of Koushi’s feet, kneeling so that they were eye-to-eye. Koushi was so embarrassed, wishing he had locked himself inside so no one could come back and check up on him and find him like this.

“Hey,” Daichi whispered, leaning closer. The hand he’d placed on Koushi’s shoulder slid down and began to rub his arm, up and down, a fluid and rhythmic motion that Koushi held on to like a lifeline. His other hand came to rest atop Koushi’s right knee, a soft pressure as he tried to keep Koushi’s eyes on his. It only took a few moments before Koushi remembered that this was Daichi and that he knew everything there was to know about Koushi, that they’d never hidden anything from each other before and then, all at once, he wasn’t embarrassed anymore.

He moved out from under Daichi’s hands, rolling forwards until he was nestled right in-between Daichi’s strong thighs, his arms coming around his captain’s neck and holding him so close he was grasping his own elbows to stay locked around him, his fingertips pressing crescent marks into his skin. Daichi didn’t even hesitate in returning the embrace, his hands coming up and around his back and pressing Koushi bodily against him, so that the only space between them were Koushi’s withheld feelings of sadness at having lost his starting position.

It seemed that Daichi understood all too well that the injury here was not physical. That the only remedy he could offer the delicate creature in his arms was his touch and his warmth.

Koushi was trembling in his arms.

Daichi tightened his hold and let Koushi continue to softly cry into the curve of his neck, feeling the wetness of tears climbing down to his collarbone. He stayed still for a few moments, unsure of how to offer the most comfort that he could, before he started to very tenderly nuzzle Koushi’s hair just behind his ear. The reaction Daichi received was both surprising and alarming, as a small, high-pitched breathy sound slipped through Koushi’s lips. Daichi wasn’t good with interpreting these kinds of situations; that was Koushi’s specialty. He didn’t know if he should repeat the gesture or sit still, his mind a storm of unknowns. Just as he came to the conclusion that maybe what Koushi needed right now was just to be held, the boy in his arms spoke.

“Daichi,” he whispered, and his lips which had trembled against Daichi’s neck just seconds ago were suddenly pressing kisses to the skin there, moving up until they found the corner of Daichi’s jaw. His heart was pounding, his body frozen in uncertainty. This was not the first time they had done this, but considering the circumstances, was this okay? Was this what Koushi wanted, or needed? Or was that his selfishness talking? Either way, Koushi wasn’t stopping.

His lips were like petals against Daichi’s jaw line, becoming more and more insistent as Koushi’s body pulled back some and his teeth nipped Daichi’s chin. Daichi stared at the other boy, his eyes wide with wonder. Koushi’s eyes were still glassy from crying, tear tracks still apparent on his flushed cheeks, and he was hiccupping from the sobs that had torn through him. He looked thoroughly exhausted, but his hands were no longer shaking and his lips were suddenly moving and Daichi’s eyes fell to trace the words spilling from between those lips without really hearing a thing, until—

“Please,” Koushi hiccupped, his tired eyes full of fire. “Kiss it better, captain.”

Daichi could feel his heart pounding up against his ribcage as he slowly nodded his head, leaning forward and placing an incredibly gentle kiss upon Koushi’s beauty mark, his lips so gentle they barely even came together at all. He hears Koushi suck in a breath, his hands releasing his own arms so that they could grasp Daichi’s shoulders instead.

And then, it’s like a switch is flicked between them because Daichi’s wrapping Koushi’s legs around his waist and lifting them both until he’s on his feet, his lips never leaving Koushi’s delicate cheek, and they’re breathing each other’s breath and Koushi’s legs tighten. Daichi swears as he jostles them both backwards, Koushi already lifting his shirt over his head and exposing his unbelievably pale torso, as they step out of the shadows and Daichi gently folds them down to the ground, laying Koushi out before him, pooled in the moonlight. His skin looks like it’s glowing and Daichi almost doesn’t want to remove his own shirt because he’ll have to look away, but then Koushi’s leaning forward, abs bunched with the strain, fingers finding the hem of Daichi’s shirt and pulling it up and off of him.

Their lips come together with careful intensity and Koushi’s got his hands pressed into Daichi’s shoulder blades and Daichi’s pushing him back down to lie flat on the floor, listening as Koushi hisses when the cold flooring meets his bare back. Daichi moves away from his lips and starts kissing a trail down his slender throat, across first one collarbone and then the other. He finds his way down to tiny, perky pink nipples and blows air over one while his fingers gently toy with the other. Koushi’s eyebrows shoot up then come right back down as his entire face screws up in pleasure.

“Ahh,” he hums appreciatively, arching up and into Daichi in response. Feeling chills race down his spine, Daichi allows for one hand to slide across Koushi’s abs and down to his waistband, toying with the hem before Koushi starts making frustrated noises. And yet, Daichi waits until Koushi opens his bleary eyes before slipping his hand past the fabric. Koushi’s eyes are still watery, but the passion in their depths reassures Daichi that this is what Koushi wanted. And if he was being honest with himself, this is what Daichi would always want.

“Please, Daichi,” Koushi moans, and Daichi swallows as his hand comes to rest over the hardened length of his vice-captain. Koushi’s hands slide up from Daichi’s shoulders and thread through his hair, making Daichi gasp. Smiling, Koushi lifts his hips. Daichi, clearly understanding the gesture, retracts his hand and grasps the edge of Koushi’s pants and briefs, slowly sliding both of them down his legs and off of his feet. Not wanting Koushi to feel uncomfortable for a moment, Daichi moves to discard his own pants and boxers as quickly as possible, glancing over his shoulder when he’s still taking one leg out of a pant leg to see Koushi smiling at him with so much love and adoration and expectation in his eyes that Daichi doesn’t even want to blink. He didn’t want to miss a second of that expression. He settles on top of Koushi and rests one forearm by his head, reaching out and cradling Koushi’s cheek in his other hand.

“You’re beautiful,” he whispered. He knew his eyes were a reflection of Koushi’s, enough of a tell of his feelings for the olderboy, but Koushi had a way of making Daichi want to spoil him. And, well, it was possible that Daichi was more than willing to do so. He leaned his head down until their foreheads were touching, watching Koushi’s eyes slide shut and his lips curve into a bigger smile, his fingers still in Daichi’s hair. Daichi looked him over, so close to him, their hot bodies pressed together in the cold air, with no space in-between them, truly, and he was enamored.

Truly, one hundred percent enamored with this kid.

“Daichi,” Koushi sighed, though Daichi wasn’t sure if it was in response to being called beautiful or if it was impatience. Koushi looked the quintessential angel, but when it came to sex, he was, well—

“Daichi, please.”

He takes no time at all to lean forward and capture Koushi’s lips, his dominant hand moving to grasp and stroke Koushi’s already-hard cock. Daichi wanted desperately to break away from the kiss and look at Koushi’s hard length in his tanned hand, suddenly conflicted over spending so much time basking in the glow of Koushi’s moonlit-face rather than the rosy head of his penis. But Koushi was an amazing kisser and he was sucking Daichi’s tongue into his mouth and his hips were pushing forwards so that Daichi had all of him in his hand and this wasn’t going to last very long.

Daichi allowed for his own hips to roll against Koushi’s and swallowed the moan that was Koushi’s response. His thumb was periodically rubbing over Koushi’s pert nipple, feeling the hardened peek of it. His other hand slowed its pumping until it stopped completely, moving instead up and around Koushi’s jutting hipbone to wrap around and grasp his cheek, then swiftly moved further until he was edging around his tightened hole.

Daichi worked him slow, agonizingly slow; making sure that the time between inserting each finger was enough for there to be the least amount of pain, since neither of them had lube with them. He’d made sure to lather each finger with saliva, uncaring of the mess he was making of his mouth and Koushi’s chest as it dripped over while he made sure to get them as wet as he possibly could.

Now he was peppering kisses all along Koushi’s neck and shoulder, pressing his nose to the pale skin when he felt the boy beneath him clench his inner muscles. Koushi was moaning and by now he was working Daichi’s hardened length, trying to get him up to speed. Daichi hissed as Koushi pressed a fingertip to his slit, coming out from between their bodies with a pearl of pre-cum spread on his finger. He licked the digit clean, sucking until it came away wet and dripping. And then, in that adorably keen way that Koushi had, he took the hand playing with his nipple and brought it back down to his cock, beginning to pump Daichi’s hand with his own on top of it. It was hard to focus on pumping the three fingers inside of Koushi at a steady and gentle rhythm when his other hand was sliding up and down in a separate rhythm.

Yet he persevered, and by doing so he was rewarded with an especially breathy moan, hitched and disjointed and so sexy. Daichi was panting, his untouched hardness aching and heavy and hot between them. He let his fingers slide out along Koushi’s ass and let them rest on his hip, moving his lips from shoulder to neck to jaw to that beauty mark he loved so much. Then his lips were at Koushi’s ear, and his words were a mangled groan.

“Are you ready?” he asked, feeling a droplet of sweat run down his forehead. Koushi barely let him get the last word out before he was reaching for Daichi’s hips, pushing them where they needed to be and lifting his own as high in the air as he could. Daichi hadn’t thought it was possible, but his cock jerked and became even more painful at Koushi’s needy response.

“Please,” Koushi moaned, and Daichi accommodated them both. He positioned himself at Koushi’s entrance and paused, watching as the boy underneath him opened his heavy-lidded eyes before licking his lips. Daichi cursed as the head of his penis pushed in, his heartbeat a drum line in his ears and his temples and his shaking hands. Koushi was pulling on his hips, urging him further. Yet he choked on a gasp as Daichi slid home, his entire length inside of him, holding completely still. Koushi squirmed beneath him, adjusting to the sting and tear, then feeling the slow burn transform into an itch, a different kind of burn, a special kind of need, a need for something more. It amazed him, even now after they’d had sex so many times before, how quickly his body adjusted to Daichi’s. They were so good for each other, so evenly matched. Koushi was more willowy but Daichi was wider and had a compact frame and his thighs. His shoulders. Koushi couldn’t get enough of him, had to have him do something about this burning itch he couldn’t get rid of.

“Move, Daichi, I want to feel all of you.”

“Fuck,” the raven hissed, pulling his hips back before carefully bringing them forwards, still concerned for the pain of his partner, still worried about hurting him. Koushi lifted his legs and crossed them around Daichi’s waist, pressing them even closer together. His arms came up to wrap around the column of Daichi’s neck, and he pulled them apart just briefly, their eyes both glazed over, connecting and holding. And when Koushi knew he had Daichi’s full attention, he deliberately clenched his inner muscles and spoke.

“Harder, captain.”

And so the captain obeyed. He pulled his hips back and surged forwards, repeating the process over and over, setting a grueling rhythm he could barely hang on to himself. Luckily, Koushi was completely wrapped around him, arms and legs and heart. There was no part of Daichi that Koushi had not touched, had not loved and cherished and nurtured. Daichi hoped, as he continued to pump in and out of his vice-captain, listening to his magnificently high-pitched moans get thrown back to them from the walls of the clubroom, that he was able to love and cherish and nurture every part of Koushi, too.

“Oh, God,” Koushi moaned, his fingers digging into Daichi’s shoulder blades, his hips trying to keep up with Daichi’s grueling pace. His moans became a lot less simple puffs of breath and a lot more affirmations, a lot more please and oh and Daichi.

“Yes, yes, yes, Daichi,” Koushi’s voice was sinful, high and velvety and so passionate. He didn’t hold back a breath, not a single breath, and he didn’t waste one either. Every moan made Daichi want to move faster, go deeper, love him more thoroughly. He felt one of Koushi’s hands leave his back, come down between their jostling bodies to grasp his own straining cock. Remembering his earlier conflict, Daichi pulled back just enough to let the moonlight touch Koushi’s length from head to beautiful base, and he smiled. Koushi was too far gone to notice the distraction, his thin fingers wrapped so tightly around his length that the head was quickly gathering more color, shifting from a rosy pink to a flushed red. Daichi groaned, feeling shivers race down his spine and into his quivering thighs.

“Koushi, fuck, you’re amazing, you’re—“ Daichi bowed his head as he felt the beginnings of that familiar burning heat in his lower abdomen. He continued to thrust, heavy and powerful into a trembling Koushi until he could feel the fire about to catch and follow a scalding trail all the way through him. He looked up, gritting his teeth, managing to catch Koushi mid-gasp with his head thrown back and his eyes squeezed closed. Feeling the break in rhythm, Koushi opened his eyes and seemed to read the question in Daichi’s, nodding his head and gasping, “Please, yes, I’m with you.”

That was all Daichi needed before he really began to thrust home, his rhythm reviving as he clenched his muscles and listened to the elevation of Koushi’s moans and his own soft grunts. Koushi’s hand was tugging furiously at his own cock, so flushed and hard and ready. Daichi dipped forward and let his lips settle over the corner of Koushi’s jaw, the new position putting more pressure on Koushi’s straining cock. There was a strange choking gasp and Koushi was moaning Daichi’s name, just his name over and over, and then suddenly Koushi was arching, throwing his head back with a shaky whimper slipping through his teeth.

Koushi in mid-climax was the most beautiful sight that Daichi had ever seen in his entire life. More beautiful than a sunrise greeting the new day, more beautiful than a sunset splashing the last vestige of color across the sky.

Daichi drank in the sight of him and felt that ember in his lower abdomen suddenly drop and light and burst into a trail of flames, burning through his groin and cock until he was so close to Koushi not even breath could come between them. Daichi groaned long and low, giving one last powerful thrust, riding out the burning wave curling through him, pressing his lips as best he could to the hollow of Koushi’s throat.

Daichi tried to hold himself up for as long as he could, afraid of how heavy his body weight would be atop Koushi, but the other boy just stroked his hair back and smiled. So Daichi carefully lowered himself until he was resting on Koushi’s chest, listening to his heartbeat try to find a rhythm that wasn’t racing, smiling against the warm skin against his cheek.

“Ah,” Koushi sighed, laughing a little. “Daichi.”

“Koushi.” He agreed, grinning wider. He shifted, carefully pulling out of Koushi and moving until he was pressed against the cold flooring. He brought an arm up and around him and rolled until Koushi was the one resting on top of Daichi’s chest. His vice-captain smiled, bringing a hand up to lovingly trace Daichi’s tan nipple, resting his head on his captain’s wide and muscled chest. They stayed that way for so long they lost track of time, their only companion the moon that kept them shrouded in a pale glow. Daichi was stroking Koushi’s hair, smiling up at the ceiling but still feeling the hints of concern for the darling boy lying against him. Concern that he hadn’t gotten through to Koushi what he’d needed to. He wondered if now that they were both temporarily sated that he should ask to talk about it some more.

But when he came back to focus he realized that Koushi’s hand had stopped tracing his nipple and was merely resting over it. He leaned his head forward a bit and hummed lovingly when he realized that Koushi had fallen asleep on his chest. His hand, strong and secure and all he had to offer Koushi sometimes, left the boy’s hair and came around the older boy so that he could hold him gently against his chest. He laid his other hand over Koushi’s on his chest, thinking to himself that a few long moments of rest were probably just what Koushi needed.

Though he was exhausted and his muscles in his legs and butt and back were twitching sporadically, he knew he had to keep himself awake. They couldn’t sleep through the night and not return to their homes, couldn’t be found by the team the next morning, naked and snuggling. But for Koushi, who he had never seen have a breakdown like this before and who most definitely needed good sleep and someone there to cherish him when he woke, Daichi would wait. He would wait however long it took.

✧

The next morning came and went like any other morning.

Koushi and Daichi left their houses and met on the way to school, had classes and ate lunch together with Asahi and Yuu, and battled their hearts out in practice. When it came time for everyone to leave, Daichi and Koushi made sure to lag behind in as discreet a manner as possible. Daichi told the rest of the team to head home, saying that this time he’d make sure everything was in order.

Hinata and Kageyama didn’t spare a minute after that and had taken off in some direction yelling something about racing to the split point between their houses, and Tanaka was yawning and scratching behind his ear, muttering something about his sister taking him shopping later. Yuu and Asahi were walking ahead together, Yuu gesturing wildly and being very animated in telling his story and Asahi smiling down at him, invested but very obviously distracted by how cute the smaller guy was. Koushi watched them with smiling eyes, his lip tilted at the corner. He turned back to help Daichi put away the last of the equipment, a lone ball that had somehow found its way into the corner of the gym.

Once inside the clubroom, Koushi found himself looking at the broken mop again. This time, however, he didn’t feel a thing from looking at it. There was no symbolic connection between the two of them, no comparisons.

“Hey, Koushi, can I ask you something?” Daichi asked, placing the ball back into its proper bin and stretching his shoulders nonchalantly as he gestured for Koushi to follow him out. They walked out of the gym, sliding the door closed behind them.

“Hm?” Koushi hummed, a curious affirmation as Daichi locked up.

“Why do you keep staring at the mop?” Daichi asks before he pockets the keys and turns back to face his friend, tilting his head with concern and confusion spilling across his features.

“It’s silly,” Koushi says, smiling as he glances over the open sky and watches the big white clouds shift along. They’re standing under the veranda, cast in a cool shade, but the day is obviously hot and the pavement is bright in the sunlight.

“Weren’t you the one that insisted we keep it?”

“Yes, but it’s broken. Sometimes it just seems…a little useless.” He explained, and saying the words out loud made them seem absurd. He couldn’t believe he’d been comparing himself to the broken mop. He looked up and was about to laugh along with Daichi at how ridiculous he’d been, but Daichi wasn’t laughing.

“No.” Daichi said, his expression darkening. “It’s not useless. It’s not broken,”

Daichi stepped right up to him so that their chests were brushing together in broad daylight. He lifted one hand and tucked one side of Koushi’s bangs to the side, his touch so gentle it made Koushi want to grab Daichi’s hand and march them both right back into the clubroom and lock the door behind them. Daichi’s fingers found Koushi’s chin and he tenderly pinched the skin there, shaking his head and looking as though he was in pain. Everything about Daichi was gentle and tender, Koushi thought, except for his voice. Hard and stern and resolute; a voice that spoke a captain’s orders. Even his next words, spoken through a whisper, a mere breath, were unwavering.

“And neither are you.”

He waited, then, for Koushi to accept the words. There was a stern expression on Daichi’s face, one that usually came with a promise of probably-maybe socking Koushi. It was a look that held no prisoners and as Koushi continued to stare steadfast into Daichi’s resolute eyes, he found that the words sunk through him like a stone. He was not broken. He was not useless.

He was human.

And even though he’d been trying to accept that fact since last night, even as he’d lain comfortably against Daichi’s chest and heard the sound of his strong heart beating out a rhythm Koushi knew so well he could write you the notes, he still hadn’t quite realized it. Not until Daichi spelled it out for him, not until Daichi reminded him in so little words that he was not a mop, though that sounded ridiculous, it made sense to Koushi. He had been comparing himself to that mop because it was broken and useless, but he was different, he was human. And humans made mistakes and were broken but humans could also fix themselves. All he’d needed was a reminder, one Daichi so easily offered to him in the form of his embrace and now, now in his words. Even if he wasn’t the strongest, that did not make him weak.

Even if he failed, that did not make him a failure.

Daichi watched Koushi’s face light up like a sunrise, his eyes glistening and his smile stealing over his face and making his eyes crinkle at the sides. Daichi felt pride swell within him, his eyes flickering over Koushi’s beautiful features, now illuminated in the glow of his renewed determination. He crossed his arms over his wide chest, his expression shifting into hard edges and stark lines. When he spoke, his voice came out like a whip, firm and forthright.

“So, you’re going to keep your head up. You’re going to show everyone how strong you are, and you’re going to take back the starting setter position.” And even though Daichi was completely serious and his tone brooked for no argument and was intended to leave no room for amusement, all Koushi could think was a fond, _captain’s orders_.

“Yes, Daichi.” He responded, beaming at his captain. Daichi’s body seemed to instantly melt as his hands uncrossed and his shoulders—wide, strong, beautiful shoulders—fell as he moved with endless grace to wrap one arm around Koushi’s neck, pulling him forward.

And then, right there on the steps outside of their gym in the shade of the veranda, Daichi leaned forward and pressed his lips to Koushi’s.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading : )


End file.
